Evaluation of the Continuity of Care Service Model for Women from Remote Communities Birthing in Town

The Graduate School for Health Practice is evaluating a DHF pilot study of a continuity of care service model for remote women birthing in town that involves considerable change to the way services are provided.

This participatory evaluation process and comparison with other similar studies, and will inform further development and expansion of the model. Currently the midwives and Aboriginal Health Workers received positive scores. The participatory nature of the evaluation is assisting the team and their manager to establish benchmarks for this new model of care.

Healthy Under 5 Kids: an education package

Supporting the growth and development of children in their early years is becoming a greater priority in health programs. The ‘Healthy Under 5 Kids (HU5K)’ Program is a Department of Health and Families (DHF) initiative. This education package has been developed by the Graduate School for Health Practice, is designed to provide health providers working in remote areas with key knowledge and skills to incorporate into their health service delivery. It is comprised of adapted materials from the Charles Darwin University Graduate Diploma in Child and Family Health and incorporates Department of Health and Families and other materials. The materials will assist clinicians working in remote areas to implement the Under Five’s program currently being piloted in several remote communities.

Population projections for the Northern Territory

The design of services, allocation of resources, and management of infrastructure all require knowledge about what the population of an area might look like in ten, twenty, thirty years time and beyond. It is very difficult to develop such population projections in environments like the Northern Territory which experience high mobility among some people, and which have great population diversity within what are mostly widely dispersed and small settlement patterns. Our research uses novel population modelling techniques based around in-depth knowledge of who lives where and how this is likely to change over time. It draws together data from a wide range of sources, and goes beyond standard statistical methods to develop scenarios of population change which can inform policy and practice.